'I have probably got a little bit of gyp about being gay or something like that'
Harry Williams couldn’t quite believe the fall-out from Exeter’s win at Leicester last weekend. The league-leading Chiefs did a nifty number on their struggling hosts; then the keyboard warriors had their tuppence worth, getting stuck in in such an ugly way that the wounded Tigers felt compelled to report their online abusers to the police.
“If people said something to a player and their family, those people just need to sort themselves out,” said Williams to RugbyPass. “It’s just complete ridiculous. People who do that kind of thing, just take a grip on what you’re doing. It’s just stupid. I can’t condone that type of behaviour. It’s just ridiculous.”
Williams knows from past experience. With long hair and tattoos, he’s a character whose bubbly individualism has been a lightning rod for those wanting to take a pop at anyone daring to be different.
“I have probably got a little bit of gyp about being gay or something like that [he’s not as it happens]. I have Twitter but I don’t really (engage). Maybe after a couple of poor games you see a tweet about you, where it says ‘Harry Williams wasn’t very good today’ or ‘he’s s**t’, something like that. At the same time, if they want to put that they will put that. But they are probably quite sad people.”
Sad isn’t the description you’d use regarding the spirited Sandy Park dressing room atmosphere. Top of the Gallagher Premiership pile, their rise is the envy of so many rival clubs. Chiefs’ Premiership stay was only supposed to be fleeting, a novel adventure that started in September 2010 and expected to have a quick crash landing. That bump, though, has never happened.
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There were five seasons settling in, Rob Baxter’s outfit gradually finding their feet at elite level. Now, following three successive final appearances and one title, the club is a beacon of consistency that has left some longer established rivals trailing way behind. Reaching a fourth consecutive decider is well within their grasp.
“It’s weird. To say in inverted commas you spend time developing a culture, I don’t think you can develop a culture. It’s quite an organic thing that gets created over time,” said Williams, shedding insight on the mechanics of an enviable inner sanctum that has Exeter nine points clear despite Sunday’s surprise home loss to Wasps.
“He [Baxter] has just allowed that process to occur without any regulation. And also the core of the squad are Devon and Cornish lads so the people who come in, you need to buy into their culture. They have been there so long, so you definitely get that feeling of the players who have been before and created it but you’re still adding to it.
“I also think we have quite a young team so we’re not hampered by our past, we’re not trying to push on to do stuff we have done before because everything we’re doing is pretty new for us. That makes it even more exciting.
“The key to the consistency is the fact all the players are happy. Because he [Baxter] keeps such a stable, happy environment, there is never other issues creeping in. You never have to worry about anything that is happening off-field because you know all that side of it is sorted and they’re pretty even-handed with their evaluations, pretty honest with you on their feedback.
“It creates an environment where the majority of players, they’re all happy. Because of that you want to play well for the team year on year. There isn’t people moaning or sapping the entire time and (going) ’I want to leave’. It genuinely isn’t like that.
If you haven't seen the full video of this, it's well worth a watch ? @ExeterChiefs stars describe winning the Premiership in 2017… will they be in the #GallagherPrem final this year? ?
Full video ? https://t.co/GqXlCPCXMs
Tickets ? https://t.co/4F80TeCgMA pic.twitter.com/OQXIE062R5— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 12, 2019
“It’s a real tight knit group and when you play well you feel the coaching staff and the squad have that real sense of unity. It’s like a shared kind of happiness. That’s the foundation for what pushed the team on year on year and hopefully will continue to push the team on for a long time to come.
“I believe where we’re at as a squad at the minute mentally, we’re not slowing down. I feel like we’re only speeding up. We understand the task ahead and I feel like we just want to ramp up, use every game as a springboard, an opportunity to go on to another level.
“The aim with Exeter is to win the Premiership and then to get selected for the World Cup would be a dream come true, it would be quite surreal. There is nothing I would ever have expected up until the last couple of years to happen, but if it becomes a reality I will be buzzing.”
Having taken the scenic route to the top with Exeter – Championship spells at Nottingham and Jersey and even lower down at Cinderford – before gaining England recognition, the tighthead from south London is a free-spirited 27-year-old with no airs and graces.
“I feel I appreciate it more because I see when you’re in the academy at such a young age, it’s kind of all you know and it’s all you will ever know. That is the word, you get institutionalised whereas I have been in other walks of life where it hasn’t always been like this, it hasn’t been all cushy where the club get everything done for you and you have all the extras from being at these clubs like Exeter. I’m glad I ended up in the same place as the lads but I feel I’d more fun doing it.”
There’s no sign of that fun stopping either. “On a day off, right now I’m trying to learn a little French, to keep the mind activated and stimulated. I coach as well and normally on a day off I just take it easy, discuss possible business ventures and go for lunch with friends.
“I don’t know (if I will ever play in France). That’s a future conversation. But the reason why I’m learning is just when I finished university I stopped any kind of learning or anything like that. It does dull your brain a little bit if you’re not reading all the time, your mind’s not being active.
“I just thought it would be good to pick something up. I have never done anything like that before. I went in without a knowing a word and it’s fun when you start learning stuff, you feel yourself get stimulated,” he explained.
His grasp of Japanese ahead of possible World Cup selection is less fluent. “Arigato, which means thank you, and Konnichiwa, which means hello. That’s all I’ll need to know. The rest I’ll steal with my eyes.”
Our friends from @GallagherUK are at Crediton this evening with @ExeterChiefs as they lead a #TrainWithYourHeroes session with local winners @CreditonRFC Ladies U15s. Session led by #GallagherPrem stars @Yenz_2 @HarryWilliams91 and Alec Hepburn pic.twitter.com/xcWnah4vua
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 11, 2019
A starter from the bench in the 19-26 defeat by Wasps, Williams was talking to RugbyPass during a midweek Gallagher Insurance Train with your Heroes session where he tongue-in-cheek quipped he wasn’t a fan of host club Crediton. His time coaching their Cullompton rivals meant he couldn’t resist a light-hearted dig, but he enjoys the grassroots.
“This is what it’s all about. Old rugby clubs. It does take you back, a simpler time. You were kids playing for fun and it was a different experience,” he said before ruminating one of the English game’s hotter topics – how to make the Championship a more self-financing professional set-up so that it isn’t vulnerable to Premiership oligarchs pulling up the pilot ladder and putting an end to promotion.
“I’m torn about this. I don’t think they should get rid of relegation because it makes the league so exciting. Look at the Premiership now, there’s like so many teams that aren’t safe and there are teams that have come through. Exeter came through and Worcester, I suppose they are struggling now but they have been a pretty stable Premiership team for a number of years.
“But the issue is which Championship teams, bar London Irish, could come up, stay up and play well in the Premiership. A lot don’t have the crowd, the funding or the backing, they can’t make a fist of it. I don’t really know what the solution really is, but ring-fencing the Premiership isn’t the answer.
“Some grounds down in the Championship can seem a little bit empty and a little bit dead, but most of them, even if they have only a small crowd, do actually generate quite a good atmosphere… but I suppose you have to get more people interested in watching rugby so the crowds can be bigger.
“You also need more initial funding to finance the teams which is actually impossible, the RFU are already trying to cut back costs. So I don’t really know. It’s difficult, mate, a very difficult situation. Finding a resolution for it is a hard task.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
8 Go to comments